Tel, Robert Henry (Bob) Appleton OAM as the foundation Honorary Curator.

Following a number of private owners, the building was the purchased by the Victorian State Government in 1900 as country residence for the Governor of Victoria, but never used for this purpose.

Instead, it was bought by the Geelong Harbour Trust in 1905, and subsequently became the first Australian Naval College from 1913 to 1915,[3][4] a military hospital during the World War One, and the first home for the J Class Submarine of the Royal Australian Navy's submarine service between 1919 and 1924.

The Geelong Harbour Trust resumed control in 1929, and the Shire of Corio moved in during 1938.

[5] Displays at the museum include scale models of ships that either visited Geelong or called the port home and relics of the trade and navigation, as well as uniforms, weaponry and other naval artefacts.